The first eight months of 2012 were the hottest ever recorded in the continental United States and the summer period of June, July and August was the third hottest ever, the National Climatic Data Center reported Monday.

Although the August average of 74.4 degrees Fahrenheit made it only the 16th hottest August on record, the hottest July ever combined with the hottest spring on record to keep January-August 2012 atop the record books.

The nation as a whole is averaging 4 degrees Fahrenheit above average for the year. That's a full degree higher than the same period in 2006, the second hottest January-August on record.

Record keeping began in 1895.

The record warmth is a constant for from cities north to south, from Fargo, North Dakota, at 5.7 degrees F above average, to Tampa, Florida, at 2.2 degrees F above average. Green Bay, Wisconsin, posted the biggest difference to the average, 6.7 degrees F above.

The hottest temperature recorded for the month was 126 degrees F in Death Valley, California, recently recognized as the hottest place on Earth.

If you were looking colder than normal weather, the West Coast was the place to be. San Diego was .2 degrees F below normal for the year, San Francisco was 1 degree F below normal, Portland, Oregon, .7 degrees F below normal and Seattle, 1.1 degrees F below normal.

Outside the continental 48, Alaska and Hawaii temperatures were also below normal.

Meanwhile, drought conditions continued to affect a large chunk of the 48 states. The portion of the country experiencing exceptional drought, the worst level of drought, doubled in August to 6%, the NCDC reported. Overall, 39% of the country was in severe to extreme drought, "indicating that the drought has intensified," it said. Only the droughts of the 1930s and 1950s have been worse, the agency said.

@RunForTheHills – In a decade or so, the oceans are going to be so toxic due to acidification and algae blooms, that most of the species that humans currently rely on will be dead or dying, the northern cap will have melted, raising ocean levels around the world 15-30 feet, destroying hundreds of cities and most ocean front property (on Earth), and billions of people are going to be displaced or dead. Denying it won't make any difference then, just like it doesn't make any difference now. It's happening.

Yet in 1980 Dallas, TX recorded 113 degrees F for more than 30 days, and 113 degrees F was the top end of the thermometer readings. Yes the climate is changing, but man has nothing to do with it. Demoncraps.like to use this "crisis" to assert more government control.

Not using a full year, not across the entire globe....and what exactly is the ideal temp? does anyone know? and you are saying it should never change? How come mars has the same variation in temps, is the rover causing that?

Well, Captain Science. Good thing we've got you to dispute the findings of the worlds top scientists who've worked on this stuff their whole lives. No way they'd know more about it than you, what with the internet and all.

If you were looking colder than normal weather, the West Coast was the place to be. San Diego was .2 degrees F below normal for the year, San Francisco was 1 degree F below normal, Portland, Oregon, .7 degrees F below normal and Seattle, 1.1 degrees F below normal.

this article is all over the board with a misleading headline...as usually...the GLOBE is not warmer, just a few cities in teh midwest....keep cookin the books to make your case instead of reporting facts

This data is "scary stuff." A one degree increase in temperature (32 F +1 F =33 F) is the difference in the freezing point. The Mississippi River even suffered because of the lack of snow run off this year. It still amazes me how many
people refuse to except that "Global Warming" is real and not a liberal plot.

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